This is something I never thought would be stressful to a fish, until I read this on another fishing blog. I totally think it's true and you should think about the way you hold a big fish if you plan on releasing the fish back in the water.

Here's what I read: "If a fish is to be over 5 pounds, you should definitely hold it horizontally, holding it vertically places stress on the vertebrae and will hurt or kill the fish." It makes sense you know, fish's spine is very delicate. And if the fish weighs a lot it can pull down on all those mini bones in the vertebrae. I don't think you could actually paralyze a fish, but I'm sure holding them this way can stop the fish from a quick recovery.

Remember too that a fish swims in the water horizontally and there isn't a big force of gravity pulling down on it till' you pull it out of the water. I'm not trying to be anal, I'm just trying to teach you fisherman guys and gals a safe practice of catch and release.

I remember the pike I caught in Lake St. Clair a few weeks ago, the pike was a monster. Definitely the biggest pike I have ever caught. If I knew this back then I wouldn't of held the fish vertically, when I think about it, I could really feel gravity pulling down on the fish's head and back. Ten pounds is a lot of weight ya know, I can't imagine anything bigger. Please practice holding fish this way and you can become a better catch and release fisherman. Thank you for reading!

Down below is a picture of how to hold a pike the wrong way

Down below is a picture of how to hold a pike the right way. The fisherman in this picture doesn't wrap his fingers around the whole pike, you should probably do this to help support it and keep you from dropping it. But as long as you hold it horizontally it will help the pike or any other big fish recover much faster.

Reason I mention Pike and Muskie in the title is because these fish are longer and holding them vertically can hurt them much more than bass or other wide type of fish.